


Free Time Poker

by LockPendulum



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Love Across The Universe: Dangan Salmon Team, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-06-03 08:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19460158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LockPendulum/pseuds/LockPendulum
Summary: What is the most straightforward way to woo your rival? Begin with a game of strip poker.Kaito gets drawn into Kokichi's games.Oumota Week:Chapter 1 - Day 3: RivalryChapter 2 - Day 4: Fake DatingChapter 3 - Day 5: Confession





	1. Rivalry

“Take it off!”

Head lowered in shame, Kaito grimaced and braced himself for the ultimate act.

At least, that was the plan until the door opened suddenly. Kaito cursed out of reflex. Out of all people, why did it have to be his sidekicks?

Shuichi and Maki stared at the scene before them with unbelieving eyes.

“Um,” Shuichi fidgeted with his bangs.

Confused more than anything else, Maki demanded, “Okay, what in the world is going on?”

“What do you _think_ is going on?” Kokichi said smugly.

She glared at Kokichi. “I wasn’t asking you.”

“Ouchie! Momota-chan, she’s being mean to meeee!”

Both of them ignored the resulting wailing as Kaito tried to explain. Well, as best as he could wearing nothing but his boxers, which Maki was pointedly staring away from.

“We were, uh, playing poker.”

“Strip poker?” Shuichi ventured after studying the table between Kaito and Kokichi. It didn’t take a detective to deduce the type of poker from the lack of coins on the table and the clothing the players were still wearing. Kokichi had only taken off his scarf and jacket, but Kaito on the other hand...

“Yeah...” Kaito said.

“Why?” Maki asked.

When the words got caught in his throat as he was about to explain, he gave up. Kaito really wished he had a proper answer to that. He really did. How could he explain that when Kokichi had challenged him to yet another game, he couldn’t find it in himself to resist? Out of all people, he should have known better than to go along with it, and Kaito knew that fact better than anyone else. Everybody else had given up on trying to play Kokichi’s games, but Kaito couldn’t give up. Not when he still needed to win against him.

Kaito wondered what this was, this desperate feeling of wanting to beat Kokichi no matter what, to the point of obsessing over it.

A weird expression passed over Maki’s face when he took too long to answer.

“Anyways, you two came at the perfect time!” Kokichi said. “You’re about to witness your beloved hero finally lay everything bare to you.”

Kaito’s face went pale as Maki and Shuichi immediately blushed.

“Do it!” Kokichi balled his hands into fists and started chanting, “Do it! Do it! Do it!”

Kaito groaned and slammed his fist into the table. “I won’t do it!”

Ignoring how the table wobbled, Kokichi pouted. “Awww, but that’s not an option. You lost, and I won.”

“I just can’t do it in front of my sidekicks!”

“So you can’t own up to your loss in front of them? That’s not very manly, Momota-chan.”

Maki muttered, “Aren’t both of you missing the point?”

“Ouma-kun,” Shuichi asked, “would you consider it if we asked you to take it back?”

“That’s,” Kaito turned his face to the side, “that’s also not-”

“Sure.”

Surprised, Kaito whipped his head up. “Really?”

He doubted it would be easy – this was Kokichi he was talking about – and especially since Kokichi had a conniving smile on his annoying face. “You should be grateful that I’m such a benevolent evil supreme leader.”

Kaito rolled his eyes up at the oxymoron as Kokichi continued, “So I decided to make you an offer! Instead of taking off your last piece of clothing, as tribute to your supreme leader, give me all of your Monocoins as a new member of my organization.”

“Oh _hell_ no.”

His oh-so-benevolent smile darkened. “Then go ahead. Take. It. Off.”

Kaito instinctively turned to his sidekicks for help, but he knew that they had already done what they could do. He choked at realizing that he only had these two options.

He sighed in defeat as he gathered up the Monocoins in his bag. “Fine, but I’m not joining your stupid organization.”

“Hey! How dare you call it stupid? I should execute you for blaspheming!”

Despite his offended tone, Kaito could see Kokichi’s eyes sparkle at the growing pile of coins on the table. “Does your organization even exist?” Kaito said tiredly as he dropped handful after handful of coins.

Kaito felt the loss deep within. That made it the second time he had lost all of his Monocoins in one go. He didn’t need to look to know that Shuichi was more than likely pitying him and that Maki was staring at him like he was some kind of idiot.

Kokichi happily swept the coins into his own bag. “I sure love the sound of these coins. Hey, Momota-chan! Listen.” He shook the bag. “Cha- _ching_!”

Kaito almost flinched. That was one thing he was glad he stopped himself from doing.

“Aww, Momota-chan, don’t look so sad. You’ll be happy in my organization.”

Kaito’s right hand turned into a fist at his side. “I _told_ you I didn’t join your-”

Suddenly, Kokichi swung the bag over his shoulder and ran to the door. Before he left, he turned around and had the audacity to wink at guy whose money he had just taken. “Farewell, my new minion! I’ll send you my first set of instructions tonight. Don’t go to sleep before completing it!”

And he was gone.

Exasperated, Kaito looked away from the other two and started putting on his clothes. To make it slightly less awkward and at least fill the silence, he asked them, “How’d you find us right then?”

Unfortunately, they didn’t respond, so Kaito had to finish before finally looking at them. They weren’t making eye contact. “Guys?”

Shuichi fidgeted with his bangs while looking down. “I’m not sure how to put this.”

“Harumaki?”  
She looked at him intensely for a long moment, and sighed. “I’ll say this. We heard some weird sounds, so we decided to go into the room to investigate.”

“Weird sounds?” Kaito repeated. As far as he was aware, he and Kokichi weren’t making ‘weird sounds.’ Maybe they were overly excited while they played, but even so, based on how urgently they had come in, something didn’t add up.

Maki looked away again. “It’s nothing.”

“We heard some yelling, so,” Shuichi said, “we were just wondering what it was about.”

“It didn’t sound like a date. Or friends playing. That’s it,” she said curtly.

“Sure.” Kaito said hesitantly. He decided to let it go.

“Anyways,” Shuichi said more confidently, “you already know this, but you don’t have to listen to what he says or go along with whatever he plans tonight. He took more than enough already.”

So much for that reminder. “Yeah, no kidding.”

But still…

Since it was late evening, they headed back to the dorms. As soon as Kaito entered his room, he saw a slip of paper in front of the door. It had to be the ‘instructions.’ Not looking at it didn’t even cross his mind.

_Meet me_ _at the fountain at 10 pm tonight._ _I have a puzzle for you to solve._

What kind of instructions were these for a supposed minion? He didn’t get that guy at all. Kaito sighed and scratched his head as he went over the bed and laid down.

Here was the thing, though. No matter how annoying and incomprehensible Kokichi was, Kaito couldn’t hope to get him out of his brain. Somehow, even after the first game, Kaito had been drawn in, and he couldn’t escape. Game after game had only fueled his desire to defeat him, and his ever growing curiosity in the trickster was what propelled him forward. Kaito knew that he was starting to become obsessed, but he refused to see the implications of it.

But there was one that he embraced wholeheartedly.

“Hmm, of course you came.”

“You doubted me?”

“Of course not. You’re my minion.”

“I’m not your minion.”

“But I clearly said that you had to as part of the condition. Or have you come here to say that you’ve given up?”

“I haven’t given up, and I’m not planning to. Anyways, Ouma, I’m not your minion, but I’ve decided something.”

“Hmm?”

This feeling within him could only mean one thing.

“You’re my rival!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for the prompt 'fake dating' but it's quite a loose interpretation
> 
> rip, sorry that this took like two weeks. At least it's longer than the first chapter

After Kaito’s declaration of rivalry, both of them stood still in the dimly lit area near the fountain. Even with the sounds of running water in the background, the silence between them was palpable. For once, and to Kaito’s pleasant surprise, Kokichi seemed to be taken aback by what Kaito had said.

Finally, Kokichi repeated the word to himself. “Rival?”

“Yeah!” Kaito held his fist up. “So whatever puzzle you’ve got, bring it on!”

“You really aren’t boring,” he said softly, as if in wonder.

Kaito tilted his head. “Huh? What’d you say?”

Kokichi finally broke from his trance-like state and smiled broadly. “I said that you really are boring.”

“Huh?! Where’d that come from?”

“Cuz you’re dumb. Y’know, you won’t survive long as a new minion if you keep this up,” Kokichi said worriedly.

“You just keep saying I’m an idiot. You know what, show me what the puzzle is, and I’m gonna beat you once and for all!”

Even though part of him getting riled up was from his annoyance at Kokichi’s insults, the more he talked, the more he was even more convinced that Kokichi really was his rival. No one else fired him up as much as he did.

“Okay, here it is!” Kokichi brought his hand from behind his back and took out a cardboard box. “Tada!”

Kaito walked closer. “What’s in there?”

He held his other hand up. “Patience. We’ll go to a table, first.”

Curiosity piqued, Kaito followed him until they reached a table with a smooth enough surface. Kokichi quickly opened the box and poured the contents onto the surface. Kaito’s eyes lit up as he touched the pieces. “Whoa, it’s a milk puzzle!”

Kaito hadn’t recognized the cover of the box in the dim light before, but it was one of the items he had his eyes on. He glanced over to his side to see Kokichi standing smugly. “Didn’t know you liked this kinda stuff, too.”

“What did you expect?” He replied haughtily. “Supreme leaders are required to complete a milk puzzle every two years.”

It was obviously a lie made up on the spot, but he said it with such utmost seriousness that Kaito tried to hide his smile. He might as well play along with it. “Makes sense. It’s part of astronaut training for a reason. Supreme leaders should be able to do at least that much, right?”

He swore he could see another flash of surprise pass through the other’s face. “Of course.”

“Well, let’s get started! What are the rules?”

“It’s very simple. So simple that even you can understand.”

The repeated insult dampened his enthusiasm somewhat, but Kaito let it slide. “Fine, so what is it?”

“Whoever puts down more pieces wins.”

The premise was deceptively simple, but so many things could go awry. “But how would we keep track?”

“Counting out loud!” Kokichi pouted when the other looked skeptical. “What, you don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that. It’s just kinda… weird.”

Kokichi continued, “The game ends when the puzzle’s completed. And the box says that there are 300 pieces, so when we combine our tally, obviously it should add up.”

“Gee, though,” Kaito looked at the scattered pieces, “that’s a lot to get through in one night.”

“What, scared of hard mode?” Kokichi teased.

“Hell, no! Let’s get this started already!”

“Okay! I’m starting in three seconds! Three-”

As he counted down, both tried to determine as many of the locations of the edge pieces as possible.

“One!”

With hearts pounding, they scrambled to obtain the edge pieces, hands and arms colliding with each other in the process as they counted up at an alarming rate.

In contrast, when they finished the outline, they simultaneously sighed and began the calm, tedious process of assembling the pieces. Without pausing, Kokichi announced, “And so the Ultimate Supreme Leader is ahead of the Ultimate Astronaut by six pieces. Does Momota Kaito have what it takes to defeat his opponent?”

“Dude, who are you talking to?”

“Our audience.”

“We don’t have a-” He stopped himself from finishing. He had forgotten why they were here in the first place. Instead, he said, “Well, the battle’s just begun. I’ll catch up in no time!”

Easier said than done, though, since it was admittedly hard to concentrate so late at night, but Kaito didn’t go through astronaut training for nothing.

“How many pieces you at?”

“50.”

“Cool, I’m at 60.”

“Wow, you’re actually pretty good at this,” Kokichi remarked.

“Of course I am. I did plenty of these before astronaut training began.”

“No wonder why you aren’t worried.”

Another piece was put into place. “So that’s why you came up with this idea? You just wanted to see me freak out?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Just a hunch.”

“Nishishi.”

“Do you blame me? I don’t get you at all, asking me out here in the middle of the night and challenging me to whatever this is.”

They were progressing much faster than he had expected, which he wasn’t going to complain about. What did bother his concentration was that due to the diminishing number of pieces, their hands started brushing against each other more, gentler than at the beginning of the game. His increasing heart rate must have been from how close the game was to finishing and absolutely not the hand touching.

Kaito considered asking what Kokichi’s tally was, but he decided to focus on finishing the puzzle. Before long, as if choreographed, they each took the last two pieces, placed them in the puzzle, and said their numbers at the same time.

“147.”

“153.”

Both of their eyes were wide as if surprised by how much they were panting and sweating.

“Dude, that was so close. Not gonna lie, I was getting worried there for a sec. Good game.”

“Boo, I lost. I hate losing.”

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna throw a tantrum.”

“Who do you think I am? Supreme Leaders don’t throw tantrums.”

“Good to know at least you have that decency.”

Ignoring that comment, Kokichi abruptly began destroying the puzzle.

“Hey, we could have savored it a bit longer.”

“And not go to sleep?”

Kaito sighed but then smiled as he helped clean up and put them back in the box. When they were done, he started to hand the box over, but Kokichi solemnly held up a hand. “That’s the prize for winning against me.” He grinned and held his hands behind his head. “Nishishi, it’s proof that you have solved the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s puzzle.”

As Kaito stared in surprise at the unexpected words, Kokichi turned around and ran back to the dorms.

…

The next day after lunch, after Kokichi called him out, Kaito immediately noted that he was holding something behind his back again.

“What’d you bring this time?” Kaito said outright.

“A gift, of course!”

There was no way it could be as simple as that, and his thought must have shown on his face because Kokichi started to tear up. “Y-you don’t trust me? Even though I gave you that puzzle last night? You’re so mean! Waaaaaahhh!”

Kaito wanted to object since Kokichi was the one who had made him work on it in the middle of the night, even if he had enjoyed it, but it still made him feel somewhat guilty. “Hey, don’t cry… I’m glad you gave me that. I really am.”

The other immediately perked up. “Of course you are. After all, a minion must be eternally grateful for every act of generosity their supreme leader gives them.”

“You’re still going on with that crap?”

Kokichi narrowed his eyes. “That doesn’t sound like gratefulness to me at all. But don’t worry, I’ll let you off this time, since you tried so hard and earned it last night.”

Kaito didn’t know what to say to that. Should he thank him?

At the lack of response, Kokichi raised an eyebrow. “What, you don’t want my gift? Even if you don’t, you’re my minion, so you have to accept it. Otherwise I’ll kill you!” he said while grinning cheerfully.

No, I don’t want it since it must have strings attached to it, Kaito thought, completely unfazed by his threat. Still, a gift was a gift, and even if it turned out to be a prank, only a jerk would be rude enough to refuse it. “It’s fine. You got it for me after all.”

“Okay!” He brought it out. “Here you go!” A wrapped present was handed to him.

For a moment, Kaito simply stared at the box in his hands and suppressed the urge to shake it. His classmates gave each other gifts plenty of times, but he had never seen a wrapped present among them.

“Go on,” Kokichi said excitedly. “Open it!”

“O-okay.” He carefully tore off the wrapper, which revealed something similar to a shoe box. He took of the lid, and inside lay an item that he had only dreamed of obtaining. He was rendered speechless. It was the plastic moon buggy model.

“Like it?” Kokichi said smugly. Kaito had to admit that he had every right to be smug.

“Yeah,” Kaito said softly as he took it out of the box and held it in his hand. “Thanks.” And he meant it.

“O-of course you are!” Kokichi gave an obnoxious wink which failed to help him recover. “After all, you’re my-” His eyes widened.

“Your...”

“My underling, of course!” He exclaimed desperately as his face turned suspiciously red, which he pretended wasn’t happening by turning around on his heels and sprinting away.

Kaito rubbed his head with his free hand as he watched the retreating figure. He was tempted to chase after him, but he didn’t want to risk breaking the precious gift he had just received. Besides, this was the first time Kokichi had clearly run away in embarrassment, which was honestly pretty adorable-

Kaito shook his head and held up the model for a closer look. How did Kokichi figure out that he had wanted this so much? Well, on second thought, it would have been easy to guess, but still…

He grinned like a little boy as he set it on a nearby table and turned it on. As expected, despite its slowness, he could appreciate the way it mimicked an actual buggy’s movement on the moon.

“Momota-kun?”

He looked up and waved his hand. “Hey, Shuichi!”

Shuichi studied the roaming miniature buggy with interest. “Did you get more coins already, or did someone give you this?”

“Guess what? Ouma gave it to me!”

Shocked, Shuichi looked up at Kaito. “Ouma-kun?!”

“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t really believe it either. I kept thinking it was gonna be some kinda prank, but I guess this happened.”

“That’s actually very considerate of him.” Shuichi remarked before showing some of his concern. “I wouldn’t have expected that from someone who basically took away all of your coins. I just hope that he isn’t planning something again.”

“Yeah, me too. But I don’t think so. Last night, after that poker game, he also gave me a milk puzzle. Can you believe that guy, saying that he’s got a puzzle for me and it turns out to be a jigsaw puzzle?” His voice was annoyed, but Kaito was grinning as if he had won another jackpot. “Made me work real hard for sure, but it was actually kinda fun.”

Shuichi smiled. “Wow, Momota-kun, you really are someone.”

“Huh?”

Before Shuichi could respond, they heard someone calling for him. “Ah, I should get going.”

After they parted ways, Kaito went back to his dorm room to drop off the plastic model. As he played around with it on the floor, he pondered over what Shuichi had said. The very night Kokichi had taken away his coins, he played against him and basically gave him the puzzle. And for what reason? “Gee, I don’t get that guy at all,” he muttered to himself.

He heard someone ring the bell.

When he opened the door, he peered down at a smiling Kokichi, who had completely recovered from his reaction. It was more likely that he pretended that it had never happened. Kaito said, “Oh, it’s you.”

Kokichi pouted. “That’s how you greet me?”

Cute. Kaito held back a smirk and said, “Sorry. I just didn’t expect to see you so soon. Did you wanna hang out again?”

Unamused, Kokichi studied his fingernails and corrected him. “Momota-chan, it’s not called ‘hanging out.’ As part of my organization, you must have afternoon tea with me.”

“Whoa, it’s already afternoon? We just had lunch.”

“ _That_ is the first thing that comes to mind?”

Still grinning, Kaito said, “Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t and will never be your underling or whatever, but I’m not saying no to afternoon tea. Let’s go!”

Kokichi’s eyes widened as Kaito excitedly closed the door and brought his hand onto his shoulder. “So where should we go?”

The smaller one blinked up at him and blankly said, “The same place next to the fountain.”

With Kaito’s hand still on the other’s shoulder, he started to walk with him but quickly realized that something else was moving and shifting. When he stopped, he saw Kokichi run out in front of him while holding his jacket up like a cape. Kokichi looked behind him and taunted, “Catch me if you can!”

“Ouma!”

Both sprinted to the fountain area. Unfortunately, Kaito couldn’t reach Kokichi by the time they arrived there, and that was an understatement.

“How-” Kaito panted with his hands on the table, “-the hell did you…?”

Despite panting as well, Kokichi was sitting on his seat with poise and two pieces of cake on plates placed on the tabletop. As Kaito calmed down at seeing the jacket placed on the other side of the table, he realized that asking how the pieces of cake had been unharmed as they ran would have been stupid. They must have been prepared before Kokichi had come to get him.

Kaito sat down next to his jacket and piece of cake and realized what it was. “Astro cake?”

“Yup!”

“And no tea?”

Kokichi scoffed. “Details.”

“That’s fine by me.” He shrugged and glanced over. “Aren’t you eating?”

“For afternoon tea, the supreme leader is the last one to take the first bite,” Kokichi said.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. Again, this was unexpected for a self-proclaimed evil supreme leader, but he also remembered that said leader claimed to be benevolent. He decided to ask while eating, so he took the first bite.

“It’s better than I expected.”

“Nishishi, I’m glad my underling is enjoying his cake.” He then happily took a rather large bite from his own piece. “Being part of my organization means that you’ll always have all the free food you could ever want.”

“Hey, Ouma.”

“Hmmph,” he said with a full mouth.

Kaito bit back the urge to chuckle at how silly he looked. “I’m kinda surprised your organization has afternoon tea.”

Kokichi swallowed and said, “You seem to have the wrong impression of this organization. I drive everyone really hard, so afternoon tea is essential for resting.” He accentuated his point with another bite.

“Huh, that makes sense,” Kaito admitted. “But what does everyone even do?” The only clue he had about the members were the strange masks in the Ultimate Supreme Leader’s lab.

“Evil things.”

“What kinda evil things? Killing people?” he said lightly.

“No, no. It’s a peaceful organization. Actually, killing is strictly forbidden.”

Kaito wasn’t surprised at all, even if Kokichi kept casually threatening to kill people. Kokichi continued to talk about his organization and how evil its peaceful activities were, but Kaito felt like it was as threatening as a child with a water gun. That was why it was so easy to banter with him. Before he knew it, a couple of hours easily passed by just talking with him.

Kokichi sighed and said that sadly, their designated afternoon tea time was over. As they left, he said, “Reminder that afternoon tea is mandatory! The punishment for not showing up is death.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll show up here tomorrow the same time.”

And thus for the next few days, a time was set out each day to meet. They would sometimes meet at other times, but they never missed afternoon tea, which was when Kokichi gave presents to him. They included a space egg, a cosmic blanket, a home planet, and even a Gun of Man’s Passion.

“You need this as my underling. It’s for killing people.”

“You can’t kill people with this, Ouma.”

“You can if you try hard enough.”

The only thing Kaito disliked about receiving so many presents was that he couldn’t give any of his own. Every evening he attempted to win more coins, but whenever he came close to a reasonable amount, he would proceed to lose them again. At least he had developed the habit of at least storing away a portion of his coins each day before losing the rest. However, this wasn’t enough to even consider matching the number of presents Kokichi gave him.

The pattern was broken at the end of the fifth day when Kokichi invited Kaito to the room where they had played poker and then said the words that shocked him.

“This is my final gift.”


	3. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should srsly stop posting at 4 am
> 
> Let's just say I'm never gonna see rock-paper-scissors the same way ever again. Also the long overdue yugioh references are finally here. Also, chapter title is obvious :D

“This is my final gift.”

Kaito stood slack-jawed at Kokichi, who was looking at him with an unexpected intensity that could only come from a supreme leader. He wasn’t smiling. For once, Kaito was unnerved by him.

“Whoa, what?”

Kokichi picked up the potted plant on top of the table and handed it over to him. Kaito’s uneasiness disappeared as he gasped and admired the plant. “Dude, this is amazing!”

Kokichi finally smiled. “Of course you like it. Did you know that the potted banyan tree is said to bring good luck?”

“Yeah, heard that before.”

“Nishishi, I knew I couldn’t lie to you about that!”

“So you actually don’t bother to lie if you can’t get away with it?” But Kaito knew that was strange because that didn’t stop Kokichi from making outrageous, obvious lies.

“No, no.” He dismissed it by waving his hand. “Even I tell the truth from time to time. Lies aren’t nearly as effective when no truth is involved.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Anyways, back to the point. I gave you this out of the goodness of my heart because you’ll need all the luck you can get against this upcoming final boss battle.”

“What?”

“Luck. As in, increasing your luck stat.”

“Dude, I know what luck is.”

“Do you, Momota-chan?” Kokichi excitedly moved his fists up and down. “Do you, do you?”

“What makes you think I don’t?!” He would have raised a fist if he weren’t holding the potted plant.

“You seemed to not have realized this yet, but your luck is god-tier _awful_. Why do you think you lost all your coins the first time? Of course, the second time I obviously won it all from you with skill, but even I have to admit that part of it was your horrible luck.”

Kaito sighed. “Just get to the point already. Final boss?”

“Mhmm.”

“It’s just you.”

Kokichi held onto his chest as if offended. “ _Just_ me? I see that you got cocky after winning that first battle, but that wasn’t my true form. Oh no, that was only the tip of the iceberg.” He held his hands out menacingly, which reminded Kaito of a super villain in a children’s weekend TV show.

Kaito set the plant down next to his seat at the table. “So what triggered this final boss event?”

The supreme leader explained casually, “I thought you knew better than anyone else, but I’ll just explain. No matter how benevolent a supreme leader I was, giving you all of the food and presents your heart could ever desire, you still kept going on and on about not being my beloved minion. Since there’s no point in having an ungrateful minion, I decided to give you a chance to beat me once and for all. If you win, you don’t have to be a part of my organization anymore.”

This offer surprised Kaito. By Kokichi’s standards, this was thoughtful.

“Of course, if you lose, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Hey, could you cut that killing crap out already?!”

“But then it wouldn’t be fun! Especially for a game like this.”

Kokichi took out a small deck of cards and slammed them on the table.

“Another deck of cards...” Kaito muttered, feeling the deja vu from the poker game that had started everything. But that was then, and this was now. After what he had accomplished the previous evening, Kaito felt much more confident.

“But it’s fitting,” Kokichi pointed out.

“You’re right.” Kaito paused and let a smile take over. “And I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Because you’re my rival, after all.”

With a small grin of his own, Kokichi flipped the deck over and spread the cards out.

Kaito asked, “Rock, Paper, Scissors? How does this game work?”

“The rules are as follows: Instead of holding out our hands, each player is given four cards per type. That makes twelve cards for each player. Each time you play a card, you can’t use it anymore. The game ends when our cards run out.”

“I’m guessing the win condition is whoever wins the most hands?”  
“Yup. Apparently you can bet coins, but that’s better for a larger number of players. We’ll keep it simple.”

Kaito nodded. “What happens when we play the same card?”

“Both cards are discarded.”

Kaito was starting to see that despite the simple premise, like the milk puzzle competition, this game was going to take nerves of steel.

“Nishishi, I can see that you figured it out. I like this game. It’s so easy to get, so that’s why we can jump right into meta-gaming. I’m ready when you are.”

As they shuffled their hands, Kokichi said, “I like the feeling of these cards. It also makes the game harder to cheat on.”

“Wait, how do you cheat on the regular game?”

Kokichi ignored him and kept his hand hovering above his cards. “We’ll choose a card at the same time and place it face down.”  
Kaito already chose his card with a determined look. Kokichi smirked and placed his card down, which was immediately followed by the other. They flipped them up at the same time. Kaito’s rock versus Kokichi’s paper.

“Dude, no way.”

Kokichi giggled. “You really are dumb. You’d need much more brains to beat me.”

Kaito groaned. “That’s bullshit. There was only a one-third chance I’d play rock.”

“Oh, Momota-chan. Let me tell you something. Did you know that statistically, for the first round, rock is the most commonly thrown?”

“Wait, really?”

“Yup! And it’s even more likely if that person is aggressive and macho.”

Realizing that it was true, Kaito looked down at his cards and gulped. The meta-gaming had already started before the first round. “Can’t believe you used statistics- no, psychoanalyzed me or whatever the hell you did.”

Kokichi spread his arms out. “The fun has just begun! Next card!”

Kaito gritted his teeth and put down his card.

“Time for the moment of truth. Flip!”

Kokichi’s eyes widened. “Oh...”

Kaito punched the air and took the cards. “I _knew_ using rock again would throw you off!”

In an attempt to hide further shock, Kokichi grinned widely. He had assumed that Kaito would put down either paper or scissors in order to conserve his rock cards. Kokichi had put down scissors to either win or tie, but like a charging madman, Kaito had put down a card fist a second time. He hadn’t expected Kaito out of all people to throw him off so easily. Kokichi’s heart started to beat harder when he realized that he shouldn’t underestimate his opponent. Was this what having a rival felt like?

“Next card!” Kaito gave a wild grin of his own. “Like you said, the game’s just started!”

This was going to be fun. “True. But I’m kinda worried about your hand distribution.”

Kaito’s hand was unbalanced compared to Kokichi’s. Kokichi know that even Kaito would want to save his rock cards after the stunt he had pulled. So Kaito quickly had to decide between paper and scissors. Based on hand distribution, Kokichi would want to use rock, so Kaito should use paper. They placed their cards and revealed.

“Crap.”

Kaito’s scissors to Kokichi’s rock. Kokichi giggled again and took the cards.

Kaito rubbed the back of his head with frustration. “Why didn’t I just stick with paper?”

“That previous round made you cocky. Sometimes pure logic works, and now my hand’s completely balanced!”

Kokichi didn’t bother mentioning that Kaito had one of the worst poker faces he had ever seen. It was endearing.

They played the fourth round, and as Kokichi suspected, it was double scissors. Kokichi put down another scissors, and his opponent played rock.

“You really like your rock cards, huh?”

“A man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.”

They were tied again, but Kaito’s hand disadvantage was aggravated. He had two scissors, one rock, and four papers while Kokichi had one scissor, three rocks, and three papers.

They placed double paper twice. When Kaito played paper a third time, it was met by scissors.

“That was your last scissors, Ouma.”

“A man’s gotta do what he’s got- scratch that that, I’m never saying that phrase again.”

Kokichi was in the lead by one point. Kaito had two scissors, one paper, and one rock, while Kokichi had one paper and three rocks. But thinking about the remaining cards and the possible outcomes made Kaito’s head hurt. All he knew was that it didn’t look too good for him.

Kokichi said, “Your poor head looks like it’s hurting. You need to win this from me to tie. Otherwise, I win. To do that, make sure one of your scissors doesn’t get hit by my rock. Or from another perspective, maybe more ‘heroic,’ one of your scissors has to cut my paper. The other cards will just cancel out.”

The explanation definitely helped Kaito see that now. “Thanks, got it.”

The first three were rocks, so Kaito placed down his final scissors with a relieved sigh at seeing the paper card. The other was not so pleased.

Kokichi pouted. “Boo, there’s no winner now. We both lost.”

“Huh.” They hadn’t decided how to proceed in the event of a tie. They could replay, but somehow, it didn’t seem right, not to mention mentally exhausting.

“So I have a proposal.” Kokichi spread his arms out and yelled, “It’s time to d-d-d-d-d-duel!”

Kaito felt like he was missing the reference. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that while you defeated the final boss, you still have to beat the _true_ boss.” He laughed maniacally and took out another deck of cards.

“Dude, more cards?”

“And there’s more!” He held out another deck in his other hand. “These two decks will determine the King of Games. The loser will be sent to the Shadow Realm!”

“Wow, for once you didn’t mention death.”

Kokichi sighed and set the decks down on the table. “You don’t understand. Being sent to the Shadow Realm is much worse than death.”

“So it’s like hell?”

“Yup! And like hell, the Shadow Realm is actually a made-up concept.”

“Of course it is? You’re obviously talking about something fictional.”

“Nope. It’s even more made up than that, believe it or not. It was made up as a censoring tool for a younger Western audience. Instead of simply dying, they were sent to the Shadow Realm. But if you really want, we can go back to the original and kill off the loser of the Shadow Game.”

Kaito considered asking why they thought that being sent to the equivalent of hell was a good way of censoring death, but he pushed it aside. “So how does this game work?”

Kokichi held a finger up to his lips. “You’ll find out as you play. For now, just take any deck and shuffle it as much as you want. That’ll be my deck. I’ll do the same for the other.”

Kaito chose the right one and realized that it just felt like a normal deck of playing cards. He was suspicious, but he exchanged it with the other one without comment.

“We’ll flip the top card over. The card with the highest value wins.”

Kaito nodded.

“And now,” Kokichi announced with his arms wide, “watch as the final Shadow Game determines the new King of Games!”

They heard cheering and clapping to the side. Kaito was started and saw that the Monokubs had appeared. Except for one of his eyes twitching, Kokichi maintained his posture and expression before clearing his throat and placing his hand on his deck.  
They flipped. Kokichi gasped dramtically. “Yours is a 9, and mine’s just a four!”

Taking the cards, Kaito said, “Hey Ouma, isn’t this just-?”

“Next card!” Kokichi glared at him with determination. However, his expression became crestfallen at the result. “Aww man, again? Does this mean that I’m not believing in the heart of the cards hard enough?”

Kaito’s expression on the other hand became increasingly bemused as he won round after round. This was becoming statistically very unlikely for him to win this much in a row.

Kokichi started to be on the verge of tears. “It’s fine. As soon as I draw all five pieces of Exodia, I can pull through!”

“Is it me, or are you making me out to be the bad guy?”

“You saw right through me. Maybe the fourth Blue-Eyes White Dragon’s spirit is taking revenge on me by draining all my luck.”  
When they had finished going through their decks, Kaito had won every single round. Kokichi must have rigged the decks, but why?

Kokichi started bawling. “You defeated the true final boss so easily! I g-guess that means you’re leaving my organization now. Go ahead, I won’t stop you! Waaaaaaaah!!”

Even if it was an act, seeing him like this started to alarm Kaito. “Hey…” He started to reach out to him, “I’m still gonna hang out with you and stuff.”

“Liar.” He stopped crying, but he still looked upset.

The accusation shocked him, along with the fact that Kokichi hadn’t recovered yet. “Why would you say that?” he asked softly.

Kokichi looked down and didn’t say anything.

“Ouma.”

Silence.

“Kokichi.”

Kokichi’s eyes widened and his head shot up. Kaito sighed and dug into his pockets. Right before Kokichi had called him here, he had debated whether to hold onto it or not, but he didn’t want things to continue falling at this rate. “Y’know, I always felt bad that you always gave me presents and that I couldn’t give any back.” He grabbed the item but kept it inside his pocket. This was starting to feel like a mistake. “But last night, I finally scored another jackpot. That’s why I was so confident I could beat you today as long as I kept my cool. ‘Cause, uh, I didn’t last night.”

He knew he was rambling, and this wasn’t like him. He was the Luminary of the Stars, so without further hesitation, he took out his hand and tossed the item to Kokichi, who easily caught it.

If Kokichi’s eyes were wide before, now they were like saucers. It would have been comical if Kaito hadn’t noticed the blush on his face. Kaito really wished he could take it back.

“Momota-chan?” he squeaked.

“Yeah...” Luminary of the Stars or not, he couldn’t look him in the eye anymore.

“Are you asking me what I think you’re asking?”

“No,” he groaned, “I’m not.”

“Huh? Then why’d you-?”

“Hey, look,” Kaito finally looked at him pleadingly. “When I got it last night, it was because I didn’t really know what else to get you. Everyone loves this, right? I realized as soon as I bought it that it’d be really awkward, but you started freaking out. And uh...”

Feeling restless and fidgety, Kokichi started tossing the Key of Love up and down. “So what am I supposed to do with this?”

“I dunno, man.”

The Monokubs around them suddenly started talking.

“Who gives a Key of Love without expecting the other to use it?”

Kokichi’s eye twitched again.

“Momota Kaito really is an idiot.”

“Hey, you too?!”

“IT-IS-A SIGN-OF-FRIENDSHIP. EVERYONE-MUST-GET-ALONG.”

Kokichi threw the key at Monodam. It landed in its open mouth, and the impact sent it falling backwards.

“Oops, my hand slipped,” Kokichi said nonchalantly.

“Oh my god.”

The other cubs started freaking out and gathered around the fallen bear. Monodam closed its mouth and refused to say anything.

“Kokichi, do you know how much that cost?” Kaito said forlornly.

At least Kokichi had the decency to look uncomfortable.

The volume of the bears’ hysteria increased until the four of them carried Monodam out of the room. Kaito heard something about an emergency operation. Kaito and Kokichi simply stared at the door the bears went through before glancing at each other. Kaito didn’t remember the last time he had heard silence like this.

Before staring at Kokichi’s blank expression became unbearable, Kokichi finally broke the silence. “Those things annoy the hell outta me.”

“Me too.”

When he saw a trace of a smile forming on the other’s face, Kaito cracked a grin of his own. When giggles began to escape Kokichi, Kaito started laughing. And then it was like a dam had broken. It felt like he was going to collapse from how hard he was laughing. He knew Kokichi felt the same when he threw his arm around Kokichi’s shoulders and felt his small frame shuddering. When he felt Kokichi’s weight shift onto him, he sat them down on the ground

It took a while before Kaito could finally say something.“I take that back! That Love Key was totally worth it!” he gasped. “You’re crazy! You know that?”

“But that’s what-” Kokichi laughed harder, “you love about me.”

Crap, he couldn’t breathe. Kaito fell back and took Kokichi with him. While Kokichi was giggling, Kaito felt the urge to hold him closer.

So he did.

...

After they spent a long time recovering, Kaito said, “By the way, don’t worry ‘bout the Key.”

“Hmm?” Kokichi slowly opened his eyes and blinked. Somehow, that simple expression made that warm feeling that he hadn’t noticed before grow in his chest. It had been there for a while already, but he didn’t know when it had started to form. All he knew now was that he was lying on the ground with Kokichi in his arms, and it felt right.

Kokichi smiled. “Earth to Momota-chan?”

“Oh, right.” Kaito brought his hand up and started caressing the top of Kokichi’s head. Kaito smiled gently at Kokichi contently closing his eyes again. “The Key wasn’t really a good present in that situation. Last night, I also bought other things. I dunno if you’ll like them, but you can have them.”

“Momota-chan, you’re so forgiving.”

Kaito furrowed his eyebrows. “Forgiving?”

Kokichi opened his eyes. He wasn’t smiling. “Not only did I just throw away a present you spent so much on, time and money, did you forget that I was the one who took away all your coins in the first place?”

“Oh, that.” Kaito let out a huff. “So what?”

Kokichi blinked. “So what.”

“So yeah, that made me feel bad, but that same night, you gave me that milk puzzle.”

“That you won.”

“Sure, but dude, you gave me so many presents. And I loved all of them. And no,” he said as Kokichi opened his mouth, “don’t pull that supreme leader, minion, stuff. Before I lost to you, I don’t think you had a really big pile of coins. So I’m wondering how you managed to get so many of those presents without being at the casino at all after we started hanging out.”

He grinned when Kokichi started blushing slightly. It looked like he was on the right track. “Now I think about it, in a way, your plan was simple. But normal people wouldn’t do something like that.”

Kokichi pouted. “I’m proud of being special. And my plan was brilliant. Utter genius.”

Kaito chuckled and then sighed. “You really are a handful. You didn’t have to be so _devious_. It could have easily backfired, y’know. Anyone would be pissed off if you take all their coins away. Oh right, before I forget, you got me half naked too. But I guess,” he admitted, “that’s makes you _you_.”

Kokichi looked away and stared up at the ceiling. He looked like he was contemplating something.

“Kokichi, I might as well ask. Why’d you decide to go with that plan?”

“Well like I said before, it’s ‘cause you have bad luck.”

“Care to explain?”

“If I didn’t take all your coins out of the goodness of my heart, you would’ve lost all of them again to the house. That’s a lie, of course. My heart’s just a big, black hole who wanted to take all your coins and get a minion in the process.”

“Wow, you really love that minion shtick. But you know what bothers me more? Even if you’re lying, you shouldn’t claim that you’re evil or whatever.”

He stroked Kokichi’s hair again. Kokichi sighed and leaned into his touch. He didn’t bother arguing. But there was something else he wanted to add. “That’s not all, though.”

Kokichi finally looked into Kaito’s eyes. It felt strange being looked at like he were the most precious thing in the universe. “I wanted you to know what it felt like to be the one chasing and not the one being chased.”

The words that came out surprised himself. It was different than what he had planned to say, even though he had already forgotten what it was.

“Kokichi, what do you mean?”

Kokichi looked away from his relentless gaze. How could he put into words the urge that had driven him and then have the courage to say them out loud? He didn’t even know where it had started.

_Keep looking at me. Chase me to the infinite ends of the earth._ _All meaning is in the chasing and not the catching._

Oh. Kokichi smiled to himself and lay on his side to face Kaito. _Looks like being caught in your arms didn’t mark the end after all._ “Does it matter whether or not you know what I meant? Besides, the chase was fun while it lasted. Like, really fun.”

Kaito blinked at the shift but smiled back. He didn’t need to hear poetic words to understand what Kokichi was trying to communicate. “Yeah, I had a lot of fun, too. You know what, though, we don’t have to stop doing stuff like this. We’re only halfway though this- No scratch that, we can just meet again after this show ends. That’s plenty of time, right?”

Kokichi’s eyes widened. He hadn’t dared to hope, but it looked like Kaito really did want to spend more time with him. He snuggled closer to him, pressed his head against his chest, and giggled. Kaito realized that this was one of his genuine giggles. Unlike his usual horse-like laughter, it sounded like bells.

Kaito kissed the top of his head. Startled, Kokichi looked up at him. Kaito ended up missing a little and kissed the side of his lips. It still made Kokichi blush a very pretty pink, in Kaito’s opinion. When Kokichi finally shifted himself closer to Kaito’s face and kissed him properly, Kaito brought his arms around him and held him closer.

While lying on the ground, they continued to give each other soft kisses until they fell asleep.

...

When Rantaro opened the door, he found the two sleeping peacefully on the floor. He smiled and looked at the object in his hand. Monokuma had given it to him and told him to give it to the supreme leader at the next convenient time. Apparently it had fallen into the Monocubs’ hands. Or mouth, if he had heard correctly.

At least for tonight, it didn’t look like Kokichi would be needing it, so Rantaro kept it and quietly closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if I spent too long on the rockpaperscissors metagaming shenanigans and the yugioh trivia
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
